Late in life, Thomas Jefferson labeled his draft of the Declaration of Independence “original Rough draught.” The Library of Congress holds it. The draft shows changes by John Adams and Benjamin Franklin, and later by Congress.
Smithsonian Magazine counts 86 edits. The final version is several hundred words shorter. The phrase “self-evident” was one of the edits. Jefferson had written “sacred and undeniable.”
Jefferson was not sure the edits had improved it. He wrote to Richard Henry Lee: “You will judge whether it is the better or worse for the Critics.”